Local election candidates announced

The names of all the candidates in each ward for the 2011 local elections has been announced

THE deadline for prospective politicians to register themselves for the May 5 local elections has passed, and some familiar faces are back in the running.

Chairman of the Newbury Retail Association Brian Burgess, who stood as an independent candidate in the 2010 Parliamentary election, is to stand in the Falkland ward, where an intense battle looks set to be fought with nine candidates vying for the two seats.

“Vote for the person, not the party, is my message again,” said Mr Burgess today (Monday).

“I have been fighting for local issues for many years, and I decided to run because I have had enough of decisions about Newbury being made by people who don't live here or understand how the place works,” he added.

Also to battle it out in Falkland are UKIP's two sole candidates, David Black and David McMahon.

There are two other independent candidates standing, Andrew Lutter, who will battle it out in Chieveley, and George Rattray, who is standing in Thatcham West.

With 28 candidates up for seats across the district, the Newbury Labour Party spokesman Richard Garvie, who is standing in Speen, said his party was confident it could have an impact.

"I think the fact that we have 25 more candidates this time around and that our membership has more than doubled shows that we have a realistic chance of winning control of the council,” he said.

“I'm delighted that for the first time in the history of the district council, everyone in Newbury and Thatcham will have the chance to vote Labour should they wish”.

Following a debut in the 2010 Parliamentary election, the Apolitical Democrat party has put forward four candidates, with David Yates, who stood for MP, up for the Northcroft seat.

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have both submitted 52 candidates, one for each of the seats up for grabs.

The council is currently made up of 35 elected Conservative councillors, and 15 Liberal Democrats, with two seats vacant due to the recent death of Keith Lock (Lib Dem, Mortimer), and the resignation of Ellen Crumly (Con, Thatcham Central).

There are 30 wards in the district, which have either one, two, or three seats, depending on the ward population.

Elections are also being held for all 55 parishes in the district, consisting of 488 parish seats, although not all of these are likely to be contested.

The electorate is also being asked to vote at the same time in the national referendum on whether to adopt an Alternative Vote system for future parliamentary elections, which will decide how MPs are elected to Parliament.

There will be 96 polling stations, open for voting from 7am until 10pm, and the count will take place at Newbury Racecourse on Friday, May 6.

Postal vote applications are available via telephone on 01635 519464 or clicking on the link below.

The forms must be returned to West Berkshire Council by 5pm on Thursday, April 14.

Live rolling coverage of the election will feature on Newburytoday.co.uk, as will the results as they come in.

For the full list of the candidates, click on the link below.